Date of Award

2011

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Master's Paper

Degree Awarded

Master of Arts (MA)

Program

English

Department

English

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Rupiper-Taggart, Amy

Description

I first describe competitive and cooperative approaches to argumentation, and I claim that cooperative argumentation aligns with the rhetorical tradition yet needs to be developed further. I focus on civil rhetoric as one form of cooperative argumentation. Building off the abstract description of civility offered by Theresa Enos and Kathleen Blake Yancey, I move to the practical level. Blending a quantitative and qualitative approach, I analyze students' writing from an anthology assignment (which pairs collaboration and argumentation) to determine: What kind of civility moves does the anthology assignment foster? In my analysis, I identify six civility moves: (1) common ground, (2) counter-arguments, (3) logic, (4) nuance, (5) openness, and (6) tone. I then claim that rhetoric which includes the six civility moves-along with attention to ethos and the rhetorical situation's structure-can lead to more productive arguments and argumentation in both our classrooms and wider culture.

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/29101

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